City pockets millions by selling off roads
THE CITY of London has made more than £10m from the sale of roads in the last four years – in attempts to facilitate redevelopment in the Square Mile.
Figures obtained through a freedom of information request show that between 2010-11 and 2013-14, the City sold nine plots of “surplus highway land”, raking in a total of £10.3m.
In all cases, sales were made to “facilitate redevelopment”. Under current rules, roads must be declared surplus before they can be sold to enable development plans.
According to a City of London spokesperson, this often entails pieces of road or pavement “whose usefulness has changed because of changes around it”.
The highway land around Walbrook Square was the most expensive piece of road to be sold. The City sold it to Legal & General in 2010-11, making £5.3m.
Other companies to buy highway land from the authority include Bloomberg and Network Rail.
Altogether over the past five years, the City of London made £23.6m selling property it owned, including some plots outside its jurisdiction.